Necessary Evils
by Rin Ebansu
Summary: The TARDIS unexpectedly enters the parallel universe of Rose Tyler, returning the Doctor to his tenth incarnation upon arrival, though he remains himself when inside the police box. He finds Rose, but the "other" Doctor is nothing like the original. (Continuing now!)
1. Train

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters therein.

* * *

Chapter One

Train

* * *

There she was: Rose Tyler. I don't understand how or why the TARDIS managed to cross into this universe or the reason it brought me here. I also did not understand why I reverted back to my tenth generation upon leaving the police box. I stepped back inside, and I was myself, but when I stepped back out again, I changed back to my tenth incarnation.

Even more shocking than that, however, was the fact that I watched Rose Tyler crossing the supermarket parking lot.

I saw which car she headed toward and then I slowly crept between the rows of parked vehicles. I reached the other side of her red sports car and crouched there, feeling mischievous. When she began fumbling for her keys in her purse, I straightened upright, smiling at her over the roof. She glanced up, then back to her purse, then back to me with wide eyes.

"Joh—Doctor, sorry. I meant Doctor," she stammered, smiling. "I picked up something good for supper. Want to follow me home or—"

"Don't you want to know why I'm here, Rose?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Maybe she hadn't quite understood that I was the real Doctor yet.

"Of course. Yes, of course." She bit her lower lip, looking off to the side. "For me?" she finally tried, meeting my eye beneath her mascara-laden eyelashes.

"I'm not really all that sure, myself," I told her, grinning. She swallowed, her smile flickering like faulty electrical wiring.

"Maybe you want to go out to eat...?" she said carefully, watching me with suspicious eyes.

"You're really interested in dinner, aren't you?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it immediately.

"Yes. Yes, let's go talk over a bite to eat, then, Rose," I invited, sonicking the car door and unlocking it.

"Oh," she gasped, eyes brimming with tears. She raised her head to face me, full on. "You're...you're the..."

I smiled, spreading my arms wide to either side in invitation. She remained standing where she stood.

"But how...?" She shook her head. "Never mind. Where's the TARDIS?"

Her phone rang just as I began to answer. She scrambled to withdraw it from her purse, checking the display, and quickly answered. "Doctor?" She waved to me, sending me a brief smile. "I'm on my way home right—yes, right. Yes, I know. Okay. Okay, I'm coming. I'll be there—hello? Doctor? Hello?"

She sounded highly distressed. "Rose? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, sorry. Yeah, everything's fine," she said, smiling and inhaling deeply. "He was just worried about me. Guys, right?"

"Well, how about that bite to eat, then?" I offered, opening the car door and sliding into the passenger seat.

She opened the driver's side and bent down to look inside. "Doctor, about that?"

"Yes?" I opened the glove box.

"I...I think I might have to take a raincheck, just this once."

I turned to her, my eyebrows shooting up. "A raincheck?" I tilted my head to the side at her. Then, I smiled. "You two hitting it off well, then?"

"Yeah, yeah, we are," she said, sitting down in the driver's seat, but facing her back to me. "He's making me into a real proper housewife, that one."

"Well, that doesn't sound like me at all," I mused aloud, laughing. "Doesn't quite sound like Donna, either, come to think of it."

"He's not like either of you," she replied quietly. Then she turned around in the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. I watched her, my spidey senses tingling.

"Rose?" She turned to me with an expectant smile. "Is anything the mat—"

Her ringtone played again and, again, she scrambled to check the display. I noticed it this time.

"Doctor? Yes, I'm on my way home right now. I'll be there in no—" She stopped speaking abruptly, swallowing. Glancing in my direction, she scooted off her seat to get out of the car.

Scowling, I activated my sonic screwdriver, and my incarnation's voice filled the car.

"—THREE HOURS. IT DOESN'T TAKE THAT BLOODY LONG TO BUY VEGETABLES. I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THIS, ROSE! GET HOME NOW OR I'LL—"

"YOU'LL WHAT?" I bellowed, slamming my hand against the dash.

"WHO IS THAT? WHO ARE YOU MESSING AROUND WITH THIS TIME, ROSE?"

"This is the real Doctor, John Smith, and I'm about to pay you a visit." I sonicked and the phone shorted out. I grabbed Rose by the arm and pulled her over toward me. "What is going on, Rose? Tell me now." Her brown eyes swam in tears.

"L-let go, alright? Just..." She carefully pulled on her arm, evaluating me, and released a bated breath when I loosened my grip.

"You're scared of me," I realized aloud.

"What? No, I'm not," she protested, tucking a strand of her flaxen hair behind her ear. When I continued to stare at her. She sent me a placating smile. "I'm not, all right? Just, where's the TARDIS? There should be some kind of light show going on a million lightyears away or something, right? Let's—"

"Rose," I whispered softly, frowning. She stared out the windshield, at shoppers pushing carts to their respective cars. "Rose, what happened?"

"Nothing, he's just—" Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes. "You said he needed to stay so that I could sort him. Because he was too angry, like you used to be."

"And...?"

"And he stayed angry. I couldn't..." She rolled her head to face me, grimacing. "He's not like you at all. Something's not right with him. Something went wrong."

"How wrong, Rose? This is important. If he—" A lock of her hair fell away from her neck, revealing something red and black and purple. Clenching my jaw, I reached out to move more of her hair.

She started and moved away. "Um, sorry. How about we go see the TARDIS now, huh?" She started the car and I sonicked it off. She scowled at me, but it quickly fell away. The fire died. All her fire died.

"You want to escape," I realized aloud. "What has he been doing to you, Rose? How long have you been here with him? Tell me, Rose, what has happened to you."

Something slammed against the hood of the car. I spun around to see...me.

A red faced, wild eyed me with a vein protruding from its forehead. "ROSE! Get out of the car!"

She started to move, but I gripped her hand and dragged her back inside. He started toward us and she shut the door. Sonicking her door lock, I met her eye and said, "Stay. In the car."

She nodded, so I opened my door and locked it behind me.

"How are you even here?" my duplicate demanded, striding toward me and grabbing the front of my shirt. I easily overpowered him, pinning him to the hood of the car.

"Because I am the Doctor. Not you. And I am much stronger than you, as well, for future reference." I leaned down close to his face; he stopped struggling, meeting my eye with fear. "Does Rose look at you with that same fear? What have you done to her? How long?"

"Isn't that why you cast her off to me, Doctor?" he said the word with utter sarcasm. I never hated the sound of my own voice more. "She was wild and disobedient and never listened to anyone. She doesn't even know how to cook, the worthless—"

I picked him up by the collar and threw him against the hood again. "Worthless? Neither I nor you would be here today if not for her. What are you? What makes you so special?" I countered, incorporating the same sarcasm. "I will ask you one last time. What have you done to Rose Tyler?"

My duplicate's nostrils flared, and then he grinned. With a jump of his eyebrows, he replied, "I trained her."

Furrowing my own eyebrows, I asked, "Trained? Trained how?"

"I suspect since I'm you and you're me, you'll be taking her now."

"I'm also considering ending your life," I responded breezily, a dangerous urge overtaking me. I had been without a companion for twelve months—and as Pond once told me, that tended to make me a bit more dangerous.

"And Rose thought something went awry with me? You sound just like me. We both crave power. And power is attained through...?" He slanted me an expectant look, quickly abandoning it for one of dejection. "Come on, Doctor, I know you know this one. You know every—"

"Fear? Is that what you want me to say?" I growled, shaking him. "Is that how you attained power over Rose? You made her fear you?"

"There's plenty to be accomplished through fear, Doctor. I suspect after you take her with you, even you will..." He grinned at me.

I restrained myself from socking him in the face. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Better to see for yourself, right?" I glared at him, patience wearing thin. He grinned, winking, and vanished.

"What? Wait, what?" I turned around in a circle, then sonicked the place he disappeared, checking the readings. I kicked Rose's car, then raised my hands in apology when I saw her through the windshield.

Sonicking open the door, I climbed back in the car. "The TARDIS is that way," and I retreated into dark thoughts.


	2. Names

Chapter Two

Names

* * *

We drove the short distance from the parking lot to the fast food place in complete silence. When we arrived, I left the vehicle with barely a gesture to Rose for her to follow. She obeyed.

Obeyed.

I grit my teeth, forcing down the dangerous swell of hatred. I thought the safest place for Rose would be beside me—not the timey-wimey-near-death-experiences-every-day me, but the incredibly-boring-and-brilliant-human me.

With all his memories of mine, how could he possibly think like that?

I snapped my fingers and opened the TARDIS door, ushering Rose inside. Quickly scanning the area for my evil twin before shutting the door, I made my way over to the control panel without glancing Rose's way.

"Are..." she said, trailing away after the single word. Slowly, I raised my eyes to look in her direction. She shifted her gaze to the floor and swallowed, standing up from the chair she claimed and moving away from the control panel. "This is new." She nodded, examining the lower levels from her place near the banister.

"She had a bit of an upgrade," I conceded, returning to the control panel and inputting coordinates. Concentrating grew troublesome in my current agitated state.

"So did you," Rose whispered, carefully turning to face me. Her gaze kept skipping off of me, as though afraid to look too long.

Afraid.

I plucked at my bowtie. "New face, same cool style." I forced a brief smile, but inhaled deeply afterward.

She approached me, surprising me when she threw her arms around me. "I like it. Your new face. Even the goofy bowtie." She said it all in my ear, pressing her face against my back, between my shoulder blades. I closed my eyes, concentrating on my breathing, but it was too much. I needed to know.

Spinning around, I enveloped her in my arms. "Rose, what happened to you?"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Forget it."

"It does matter," I growled, pulling back from her to meet her eye. "_You_ matter, Rose," I insisted, squeezing her shoulders gently for emphasis.

She met my eye easily, no fear deadening them for the first time since I found her. "Yeah, I know," she said dismissively, tugging playfully on the lapel of my tweed jacket.

I opened my mouth to reaffirm my words, but then she twirled away and stared up at the vaulted ceiling of the TARDIS. "Ah, I still dream of this. I miss this," she laughed, facing me again. "So, where to this time, Doc—" She stopped, paling, and pressed a hand to her neck as she looked away.

"Rose?" I started, moving toward her.

"Nothing. Just a bit, uh," she kept talking, but backed away from me as I approached. I stopped. "How'd you get to this universe, anyway?"

"TARDIS brought me here on its own," I answered absently, appraising her. "Rose, that mark on your neck..."

"Just a hickey," Rose deadpanned, stone faced.

"It's a bruise," I countered.

"It's a hickey. An angry...hickey," she mumbled, dropping back into her seat. I approached her, but she didn't seem startled this time.

I knelt down beside her. "Rose, please tell me what happened to you."

"Doc—" She sighed heavily. "I don't want to talk about it," she confessed, looking up at me with a smile.

"Rose, I just want—"

"I can't talk about it," she said, her voice thickening. I grimaced back at her, and she smiled through sudden tears. She snaked her arms around my shoulders, embracing me firmly. "So don't go trying to make me, all right? Just...let's just find a way out of here. Please." She squeezed me tightly against her, burrowing her face in the crook of my neck.

"Oh, Rose, you do have me worried," I murmured anxiously. I may have to kill my human counterpart, I thought darkly. When she remained silent, I pulled back from her with a forced grin. "But since when have you taken to calling me Doc? I don't know if I quite like having the name shortened," I mused aloud.

She bit her lower lip. "Oh, sorry. I don't know why I keep—"

"Rose, you never apologize to me, understand?" I lowered myself to mere inches before her face, meeting her eyes seriously. "You never, ever have to apologize to me, all right?"

She nodded lethargically.

I sighed. "Rose, the reason you shortened my name..."

She glanced away.

"Rose," I said, drawing her back to me. Her expression tightened with anxiety I never remembered witnessing over her face before. "The reason you shortened my name wasn't voluntary, was it?"

"What? Why wouldn't it be—"

"Rose."

Taking a shaky breath, she bowed her head. Something fell from her face, sparkling in the light from the TARDIS. She shook her head mutely.

"You can't say my name."

"Because," she said, voice strained, "you aren't him. You aren't the Doctor. You...aren't..."

"I'm not him," I finished gently. I brought her into another hug. I wasn't evil. I wasn't the bad guy. I wasn't the embodiment of fear and pain. The person she knew as the Doctor for who knew how long was now associated with terrible, unspeakable memories.

"I know you aren't. I know that," she said, wiping at her face and sitting back upright in her chair. I let my arms fall away, but watched her carefully. "Ah, look at me. I'm all whiny, blubbering damsel in distress. Can't we just go save a planet somewhere or some—"

"Distress!" I shouted, bolting to my feet and running to the control panel. "Of course! A distress signal!"

"What?" She stood to her feet and started over to me, staring at the display on the panel. "What distress signal?"

"Your distress signal," I explained, turning to her with a wide grin. "The TARDIS picked up on your distress call and brought me straight here. Oh, you sexy—er..." My eyes flicked self-consciously from the control panel to Rose.

"You call her sexy?" she said, laughing.

I grinned. "Yeah," I admitted sheepishly. "No time for jokes! Time to get out of this universe! Ah, but wait!" I struck a few buttons on the control panel, studying the display.

"Wait for what?"

Sighing, I rubbed my forehead. "Nothing, never mind." The TARDIS wasn't picking up on him anywhere anyway. And if I stayed...oh, if I stayed, Rose would have nightmares about both Doctors for months. "Time to go!" I shifted the lever down and we gripped the panel for everything in us.

"Where are we going?" Rose shouted, laughing. "Ahhh! I'm on the TARDIS!"

Returning her broad grin, I shouted, "To the stars, Rose! Always to the stars!"

We landed minutes before we should have. Minutes in TARDIS time held more significance than any other minutes in the universe.

We were far from the destination.

"Doc—" She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. "Isn't there anything else I can call you?"

"Afraid not," I answered distractedly, checking my monitor for what awaited us outside. "Just the one name, same as ever. Where are we?" I saw nothing but streetlamps on the screen. It was night, wherever it was.

"We're out of that universe, though, right?" Rose asked, darting a surreptitious look toward the door.

I strode across the room, passing her, and stepped outside the door. Quickly holding a pocket mirror up to my face, I saw my tenth incarnation looking back at me. No, we remained in the same universe—but in a different time.

"Matt," Rose called over, starting toward me.

I quickly stepped back inside, watching my real face return.

"You look like a Matt," Rose informed, sidling up next to me. She grinned up at me amiably. "So, Matt, are we out of that universe?"

"You can't just change my name," I shot, scandalized. I mainly wanted to distract her from where we were. Where we still were.

"It's been three months, Rose!" We turned to watch my tenth human incarnation chasing after Rose on the sidewalk. "You chose me, remember?"

I glanced down at Rose. She watched the scene with wide eyes, unmoving. "Rose?"

"Can we...?" she trailed off, transfixed on the scene.

The other Rose went inside a house and shut the door behind her, leaving my duplicate outside banging on the door.

The doors to the TARDIS slammed shut, emitting a force of energy to expel us, and the engine began to make that sound again.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no—" It vanished entirely. "Aww, come on! Come back!"

Rose screamed from the house and I spun toward the sound. Rose grabbed my arm, shaking her head vehemently. "No. We leave." She met my eye steadily. "Matt, please."

"What is happening inside that house, Rose?" I demanded, pointing a shaking finger in the direction.

She shook her head again, but bowed it when her past self screamed again. "Can't change it. It's history. Let's go."

"I have rebooted the universe since I last left you, Rose Tyler," I said carefully. "And I will stop this."

I started toward the house.


	3. Wardrobe

Chapter Three

Wardrobe

* * *

She grabbed my arm again, and I rounded on her with annoyance. She released me and retreated a couple steps. "Doctor, please. If you go in there, then I have to go, too. And I really don't want to."

"You used my name," I said, approaching her. "Why are you using my name?"

She rubbed her neck, looking away. "I dunno. I dunno why. It just came out. Can we go, please?"

"Rose," I murmured softly, reaching out and grasping her shoulders. She shook. "Oh, no. Rose..."

"I'm fine," she said, still not looking at me. "No need to—"

Stepping forward, I enveloped her in another hug. Rose needed lots of hugs. "Rose, you used my name." I kissed the crown of her head. "And you did it because you were scared. Of me, Rose. You were scared of me."

"I'm not scared," she said weakly.

I tightened my hold around her shoulders.

"John, get out!" Rose's voice came from the hall. I lifted my head and saw that we stood in someone's bedroom.

"Well, this is different," I mused grimly. Rose shook violently, peering around me at the bed.

I began to turn to see what she stared at, but she roughly turned me back around. "Don't. Please, just don't." She stared at my chest, not lifting her eyes to mine.

"Rose?" I heard something fall against the wall in the hall, a male speaking in a low voice.

She swallowed. "We should leave. Now. Please."

"Your other self can't see you. There's only one way out, Rose." I opened a wooden wardrobe nearby and guided her inside.

She shook her head, but remained silent, closing her eyes and resignedly walking into the wardrobe. I followed her inside and shut the door softly behind us. Light filtered in through an ornamental ventilation window. I saw my duplicate embracing Rose, kissing her, and moving towards the bed. He fell atop her when they reached it, still kissing her.

"Get off of me!" she shouted, her mascara running. She pushed him away, sitting upright on the bed and gaping at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Breathe, Rose," I whispered, finding her hand and grasping it in the dark.

"It's been three months since he left, Rose," my other self explained quietly, perching on the edge of the bed. Rose stared at the bedspread.

"Yeah, I know," she said, tracing a design on the comforter. "I know, but I...I just don't want..."

"Me?" my duplicate finished simply, leaning to the side to meet her eye.

Rose clasped her hands tightly on her lap. "It's not that, John. I just...it's weird. And confusing. I just..." My duplicate waited patiently for her to finish. "I just need time," she said, meeting his eye at last.

"Don't call me John," he said quietly, considering.

"What?" Rose returned, furrowing her brow.

"You're confused," John said, crawling up to her on the bed and gripping her shoulders. He smiled at her. "If you call me Doctor, then you won't be as confused. I want you to think of me as you think of him."

"I-I can't do that," she said, looking away with a nervous laugh. "I mean you're—"

"Rose," my duplicate said, throwing her back against the covers. "Rose, it wasn't a suggestion."

"I'm getting real tired of your mood swings, you know that?" she snapped, forcing herself up on her elbows with a scowl. "Come back tomorrow when you've cooled down."

My duplicate pinned her wrists down over her head, glaring at her. "And I'm getting real tired of your snide attitude, Rose Tyler." She struggled to free her hands.

"Hey," she said, wriggling. "Let go, John!"

"I told you," he snarled, centimeters from her face, "to call me Doctor." He dipped his face to the crook of her neck and she squirmed, throwing her head side to side.

"John! Stop it!" She bucked, trying to throw him off of her, but it only made it easier for him to force his way between her legs. She stopped moving abruptly, wide eyed. "John...don't..."

He lifted up slightly, meeting her eye but not releasing his hold on her wrists. "Stop calling me John," he whispered, kissing her briefly on the lips. He tightened one hand around both her wrists to free up a hand, reaching down and gliding it up her leg.

"Stop," she breathed, staring at him with wide eyes. She started struggling again when his hand went beneath the hem of her black cocktail dress. "John! Stop it! Right now!"

"You've dreamt of this so many times, haven't you?" he purred, dipping his head to glide the tip of his nose along the side of her neck. "Don't act so embarrassed. I'm your Doctor, Rose Tyler."

"You. Are not. Him!" she shouted, bucking and squirming. "Get off of me!"

"I won't, Rose," he told her, pressing his mouth over her neck and sucking.

Rose released my hand, crouching down in the wardrobe and clutching either side of her head. Her breathing sounded loud, uneven, labored; I crouched down beside her, bringing her close to me and squeezing my eyes shut.

"I can stop it," I whispered, hoping she would ask me to do it. I only wanted permission, someone else to make the call to tear a hole in time and space. I wanted to end all of this, take all this away from her.

"The Doctor would!" the other Rose shouted suddenly. "The other Doctor would stop!"

In the wardrobe, my Rose stifled a choked sob, turning to me and burying her face in my chest.

"I am the Doctor. I have all his memories, Rose," my duplicate assured. "I even think like him. How many times do you think he thought of doing this, hm?"

"The Doctor...wouldn't..." She gasped suddenly, making my duplicate moan.

"It's surprising, isn't it?" he said, words thick with grotesque pleasure. "Time Lords...are very different from the human men you're used to. I may not be full Time Lord, but I still have...certain aspects..."

Rose grew silent in my arms, her shoulders lax. I reached up for the handle to the wardrobe, fully intent on killing my duplicate.


	4. Remember

Chapter Four

Remember

* * *

I threw open the door, sonicking at a level meant to send a lethal electric charge at my duplicate. I intended to stop his heart.

Instead, I aimed it at the doors of my TARDIS. We stood inside, near the control panel.

Lowering the screwdriver I wielded as a weapon, I stared at the doors in a daze. "This has never happened before. How do we keep...?"

An odd sound drew my attention and I turned. Rose sat with her back to me on the floor, hugging her knees with her face buried atop them. "Rose...?"

She stayed as she was, so I moved toward her and knelt down. What could I say? What were the words for this?

She raised her head, hesitantly, to face me. Then, she smiled at me and tipped toward me, allowing me to catch her and envelope her in my arms. "I really like that new face," she whispered.

I unwound my legs and dropped down to sit flat on the floor, drawing her against me and rocking her. "Rose, my Rose," I murmured, smoothing her hair. "If I'd known, I would never have—"

"I know," she said quietly. "It's not your fault."

She yawned, relaxing more in my arms. "What can I do? Just say the word, Rose. Anything, anything at all, and I'll do it."

"Let me sleep," she said. "That's all I want. I want to sleep."

"Sleep...?"

She inhaled gently through her nose, nuzzling closer to me. "Mm, right here. I just want to sleep. Dream...something nice..."

I took off my jacket, laying it over her shoulders and upper body. "Then, sleep. You don't have to worry about anything anymore." I leaned over her, cradling her head with one hand and wrapping my other arm around her back. I whispered, "I'm here now. You're safe now, Rose."

When I looked at her face to see her expression, a tear slid down the bridge of her nose, falling to the fabric of my trousers. Her face grew peaceful, her breathing steady and even.

She fell asleep.

I rested my hand on her forehead, closing my eyes, and remembered all the good times she and I shared together. I sent them all to her, allowing her to reminisce of a time when the name Doctor meant something other than terror.

Gently, I moved her from my leg and laid her on the floor of the TARDIS. The dreams I sent her would keep her in a sound sleep for a good while, hopefully.

I stood, going to the control panel. "Why did you take us there?" I growled. "She didn't have to see that again. Why did she have to see that again?"

The TARDIS hummed calmly back at me, silent as ever. I sighed, resting my hands on the control panel and lowering my head. While she slept, I would look for ways out of this Hell.

* * *

I pulled the lever, the coordinates set, and hoped for the best. Rose rolled as the TARDIS began struggling to free itself from the parallel universe, and woke up.

"Doc...tor," she said, looking surprised. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, dragging herself up with one arm as the TARDIS rocked to and fro. "Did you find a way to get out of here?"

I grinned at her. "Keep your fingers crossed, Rose Tyler!" Twisting a knob or two here and there, she finally landed—silently.

She pushed her hair back from her face. "That didn't sound too normal," she pointed out.

Grimacing, I pulled up the stats on the display. "We're in stealth mode," I told her, pressing buttons to bring up a view of the outside. A small room with a full length mirror and a bench.

I heard her swallow and realized she stood just behind me. "Turn it off."

"Rose?"

"Please, just turn it off." I turned back to the monitor, hitting a few buttons. It turned off just as Rose entered the dressing room, carrying a few outfits.

"What happens in there?" I asked her, speaking low.

"Does it really need saying?" she asked, a haunted look in her eyes. Tears sprang up in them again and she turned away. She inhaled deeply, releasing the breath slowly. "Why does it keep showing us...these parts?"

"I have no idea," I said, scowling at the blank display. "Maybe she wants me to know exactly what happened."

Rose turned to me with a look of outrage. "So I have to relive everything? That's the TARDIS's grand idea?"

I grimaced, rubbing my forehead. "No," I said, smacking the console. "No, you don't have to relive anything. If the TARDIS wants me to know exactly what happened, I can do that without you even needing to say or see a thing."

"What?" she croaked, stepping back from me.

"She was just waiting for me to figure it out," I said, realizing at last.

"What're you talking about? How can you know...?"

With sad eyes, I appraised her carefully. "Rose, do you trust me?"

Trust. What a difficult trait that must be for her right now.

"What are you planning to do?" she hedged, eying me warily. Ah, I remembered the days when she readily agreed. The days when her faith in me never wavered.

But my duplicate changed those days to faded memories.

"I want to see your mind, Rose," I said, not moving from my place at the control panel. When she gulped, I added, "But I won't do it unless you tell me it's all right. It's entirely up to you, Rose."

She watched me, apprehension marring her fair features.

"You can say no," I reminded her gently.

She took a tentative step toward me. "I..."

"Yes?"

"I trust you," she whispered, a tear streaking down her cheek. "I trust you, Doctor," she said very quickly, clenching her fists and bowing her head. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

She forced herself to say my name.

I puzzled over my feelings—whether I should be happy that she wanted to renew the name's meaning, or hurt that she had to renew it at all.

Edging away from the control panel, I approached her guardedly. I monitored her for signs of fear, signs that she wanted to run, but she only lifted her face to mine with a smile when I stood before her.

"I trust you," she repeated, nearly as a self-affirmation.

I flashed her a pained smile, caressing her cheek. "I know you do," I told her, reaching up to place my hands to either side of her head.

She jolted and I froze, studying her frightened eyes.

"Will I...?" She began to shake. I frowned at her, and she finished, "Will I remember it all when you...?"

I kissed her forehead. "No, Rose. Oh, no, I'd never do this if you would." I wrapped her in my arms, rocking her gently. "He will pay for this. I promise you, Rose. I promise you."

Taking a deep, rattling breath, she pulled back from me and wiped viciously at her face. "All right, then," she said, smiling again. "All right, then. Read my mind."

I pressed my palms to her temples, closing my eyes.


	5. New Paint

Chapter Five

New Paint

* * *

The content of Rose's mind overpowered me with rage and disgust. Simply sorting through the last fifteen months of her life threatened to nearly undo me, sending me reeling. Training? I snarled, watching every instance where he held her down and had his way with her. Eventually, she stopped struggling, because when she struggled he made it hurt worse.

I focused on one instance where she smiled and laughed, almost easily, with him. A long while passed since he last showed her anger—almost two weeks—and she felt safe.

Then, she called him John.

He took her home and strapped her to the bed, brutally forcing himself on her. He caused a dark, ugly hickey on the side of her neck. The same hickey I noticed earlier.

The memories of her time with him stopped and I began to untangle myself from her mind, but then sudden elation overwhelmed my senses. I paused, focusing, and found myself looking through Rose's eyes.

I sonicked the passenger side door of her car and she wanted to cry with joy, but quickly stifled it. She wondered if it might be some sort of trick, to test her loyalty, but her phone rang and she saw it was him. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Her Doctor was back.

She could escape.

I retreated from the memory, letting my hands fall from either side of her head, and Rose opened her eyes and blinked up at me. "Um...you changed your mind?"

"No," I told her quietly, expecting this reaction. "It just felt like no time at all to you since I blocked you from seeing anything."

"Oh," she said softly, scratching her nose. "You're done then?"

"Yes, I'm done." Walking back to the control panel, I flicked on the monitor again. Nobody stood in the stall anymore. I pressed a few buttons, inputting the coordinates again, and dragged down the lever.

I know now, I told the TARDIS, so help me get her out of here.

It tossed and turned for several minutes this time, landing roughly, and the two of us toppled to the floor. I reclaimed my footing, stone-faced, and checked the monitor. The year popped up, as well as the location and several other stats.

"Well?" Rose prompted gently, pushing her hair back.

"We're out of there," I told her quietly, my voice a stark monotone.

"Aren't you going to ask why I wasn't worried about leaving my mum or Rickey?" she asked softly, almost reluctantly.

"I know why." They were dead. I knew. I saw.

Rose Tyler went through utter Hell in that universe, and I put her there.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, then crossed the control room to lower herself into a chair. "What now?"

I faced her, lacing my fingers over my stomach. "Whatever you want," I told her. "Anything you want, Rose."

She shook her head, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair. "I want to stay with you," she murmured at the floor, biting her lower lip.

Sympathy washed over me. Of course she chose that, having been robbed of all else. "Are you sure?"

"Told you," she said, raising her head to send me a sheepish smile. "I missed all this."

I grinned back at her. "Then let's go check out a nebula off the course of Saicharon 5, eh?"

She returned the smile, alighting to her feet and striding toward me as I went for the controls. "What's happening on Saicha—?"

I pulled the lever, but when the engine started up, the walls began to vanish. "No, no, no, not again!"

"What's happening?" Rose demanded, staring wildly around us as the TARDIS completely vanished.

"Aw, come on!" I shouted. A pedestrian passed by the mouth of the alley we stood in, darting us a suspicious glance. I waved dismissively at him and he hurried down the sidewalk.

I took Rose's hand in mine. "Doc?"

"The reading read Earth. Our Earth," I mumbled, nearly to myself. "I don't understand what she's doing."

"Doc," she repeated, tugging urgently on my hand.

I frowned teasingly at her. "What happened to Matt?"

"Doc, look!" she ordered, exasperated. I followed the direction in which she pointed and my mouth fell slightly open.

"Oh, no..."

It was like the Master all over again. Except my tenth incarnation's face was plastered everywhere instead. There was no way he could have gotten out of that universe—I barely managed it, myself. The universal reboot was the only way the TARDIS found the opening to enter into Rose's dimension; it was also a one-time only round trip ticket. Nothing could leave or enter that parallel universe again.

"Doc, how can he be here? Are you sure that we're—"

"I'm sure, Rose," I told her bluntly. Then, softening, I coiled an arm around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head. "But that's just bad news for him. Don't you worry, all right?"

"You're..." She pulled back from me to look up into my face, her full lips a thin line as she studied me. "You're going all Oncoming Storm, aren't you?"

I grinned, but my eyes felt dead even to me. "To punish the man who dared to tame the Wolf," I told her, rubbing her shoulder. "He made a dangerous enemy, and he really should've known better."

"Doc, don't," she said, wriggling away from me. Confused, I cocked a brow at her. "Every time you go looking for revenge, something terrible happens. You'll get guilty and—"

"Rose, I will not feel guilty," I reassured, darkness broiling in my two hearts.

"You say that now, because you're angry," she said, grasping both my hands in hers. I met her eye steadily. "But you will later. You always feel it later, Doc. I know."

"It's worth it," I deadpanned, releasing one of her hands and starting forward with her. "First thing's first, I need to find somewhere safe for us to lay low. No sonicking or anything timey-wimey until I can figure out what's going on."

We turned the corner.

My TARDIS sat there, painted a fresh coat of red.

"Well, hello," I said, smiling at her.

The doors opened on their own, and out stepped...John Smith.

Rose actually cowered behind me. She never cowered. In all the time I knew her, she never cowered.

"I'm going to kill you," I told him calmly.

He nodded. "Problem with that," he answered breezily, another man stepping up behind him in the TARDIS. My duplicate grinned back at the Master, then to me. "You're really bad at killing people."


	6. World Gone Small

Chapter Six

World Gone Small

* * *

I stared at the Master, conflicted and confused. Snapping out of it, I reached behind me to place a hand on Rose's arm, pointing at the Master. "But _you_ died in my arms! You refused to regenerate. This—"

"—is impossible!" my duplicate finished in unison with me, his voice mocking. "Come now, Doctor. You're the one who's always saying not impossible, only unlikely. Aren't you?"

"But how?" I demanded, following Rose when she retreated a step. When I lightly squeezed her arm, she decided to stand beside me.

My duplicate winked at Rose, making her shudder. My nostrils flared.

"All your knowledge, is my knowledge," John began, smirking when he noticed my anger. "When I disappeared earlier, the readings gave off a familiar energy, didn't it?" He lifted his wrist, flashing me a teleport.

"He's been able to teleport for months," Rose whispered.

"I know," I reminded her. For this reason, Rose never tried to escape him.

"Yes, of course you know," my tenth incarnation said, stepping out of the TARDIS. "I've been on the TARDIS the entire time. You two are awfully cozy together, what with all the shared minds and hugging and whatnot."

"Priming," the Master told my duplicate, walking off.

"Ah, look, we've bored him," I said, sucking on my teeth. "Out of curiosity—"

"The teleport is faster than the car you drove to the TARDIS," he said exasperatedly. "Are you sure you're really a genius?"

"Likewise," I returned airily. "The Master—"

"Never died. I took him directly from the end of the universe."

I paled. "You know as well as I do—"

"That time will be rewritten and that I've altered a fixed point in time?" he recited, rolling his eyes. He grinned at me suddenly, eyes alight with excitement. "Oh, yes, I know."

"Time will stop! All of history will occur at the same time!"

"Sounds interesting," my duplicate murmured, nodding. "How do you know so much about it, though, hm?"

I glared at him. "It won't last long," I growled, ignoring his question. "History will happen all at once, but then it will all stop. Time will die, John."

The TARDIS engine started, and my duplicate scowled. "Don't call me John." He snapped his fingers and Rose appeared at his side. He grabbed her.

"Let her go!" I shouted. Like that would actually work. I clenched my fists as Rose struggled against him.

"You forgot all your training," he told her, inclining his head to her ear. I did a reading where Rose once stood next to me, then turned to find her wearing a similar wristband to my duplicate's. When had he placed that on her? In the TARDIS? "I heard every word you said about your mean old Doctor, Rose Tyler. Tsk, tsk, what a gossip."

He bit her ear. Hard. And she cried out with pain.

"No!" I charged forward and fell back to the pavement, a force field barring my entry. Raising my eyes to his, still sprawled on the ground, I grew desperate. "Let her go, John. I'll spare your life," I promised.

"Number one rule: The Doctor lies," my duplicate laughed. "And I told you not to call me John." He moved quietly back into the TARDIS with Rose in tow.

"Doctor!" she called, wide-eyed over his shoulder. She beat on his back, fighting with everything she could muster.

I watched her go with the worst pain in my chest I ever experienced. "I'll find you!" I shouted, the doors closing on her tear-streaked face. "I'll find you, Rose!"

Abruptly, my duplicate laughed, turning to me. "One more thing! You are most vulnerable when engaged with another person's mind, aren't you?"

I frowned, and he flashed me his wrist, pointing at mine. Lifting my arm, I saw a blue wristband with a pearly receptor in the center. I tried to pull it off, but—well, that would have been too easy.

"Don't get your hopes up," my duplicate joked, "it's not a teleport. I'm not as arrogant as you, wanting to bring the enemy on board."

"Then what is it?" I asked, unable to help myself.

Predictably, he grinned. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked." He snapped his fingers and Rose paled, blinking at me. "Your gallant rescue should be a bit more fun now."

He turned to Rose, winking again, "I'll say I'm the real Doctor, and then he'll say that he is, and you will just stay right where you're supposed to, won't you?"

The doors closed, engines starting, and I sonicked the force field fruitlessly. I knew it wouldn't work, but I needed to at least try something. The red TARDIS faded again and again, vanishing entirely within seconds.

I withdrew the mirror from my pocket, almost certain I knew the purpose of the blue wristband. My reflection proved me correct. I stared back at my tenth incarnation's face, the perception filter programmed to turn me into a doppelganger for Rose's worst nightmare.

I threw the mirror to the ground, shattering it. My temper, I warned myself.

A moment later, I kicked a nearby trash bin. Sod my temper! My duplicate again ensnared Rose, free to do whatever he pleased with her. Free to...again...

I released a low guttural shout, grasping the bin with both hands and knocking it over.

"I know that face. Calm down," a soft, familiar voice instructed. Facing her she smirked knowingly at me. "Hello, Sweetie."

"River," I whispered, licking my lips nervously.

She pointed above and I glanced up to see pterodactyls, flying cars materializing on glass highways.

It was happening.

"How is it every time I see you," River began coyly, striding up to me, "the universe is nearly ending?"

"Not now, River," I tossed irritably, pacing. I broke from the pace and started down the sidewalk, brainstorming. The posters I first saw here advertised my duplicate for mayor—same as when the Master initially tried this.

So, following that logic, Rose and the enemy hid in plain sight—at 10 Downing Street.

"Where are you going?" River asked, following close behind. I stayed silent, and she grabbed my arm. I jerked away, continuing forward. "You can't just rush in like this. As much as you want to believe it, Doctor, you are not immortal."

"Neither is Rose," I grumbled, but halted when a woman with a veil stood in my path.

"Or the Master," the woman said, lifting the thin material from her face. Martha raised her eyebrows at me. "Looks like the world's gone small again, Doctor."


	7. Adapt

Chapter Seven

Adapt

* * *

"Martha!" I threw my arms around her, earning an indignant chuckle from River.

"Sure, she gets a hug." I released Martha and spun around, wrapping her in my arms much too tightly. She laughed. "My bad boy, trying to get out of trouble." She returned the hug, and then we drew apart.

"Raggedy man." Amy stood off to the side, holding Rory's hand. She released it and lunged at me, throwing her arms around my neck.

"How's the husband?" I asked, grinning.

"You're sure in a hurry to marry me off," she laughed.

"What?" I said, pulling away from her and searching her eyes. When she watched me with the same confusion, I shook my head. "Never mind."

"The Master converged all timelines when he returned. It's not like last time," Martha said, drawing my attention.

"Last time, when a fixed point was changed, it was in an effort to stop your death," Amy added.

"The Master's death has been stopped, but in a way that forces things that have already happened to change," River picked up.

"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey...stuff," Rory chimed in, giving me a one-armed hug when Amy stepped away. "That's how you say it right?"

"Don't. Sounds weird when you say it." I patted him on the shoulder. "How bad is this?"

"Everything that has happened in history after the Master ran for Mayor has been changed," Martha told me. "It's as if you never stopped him."

"Wonderful," I said, sighing. Then, I perked up. "But then how can you guys remember me? I've never met you, then."

"Wrong," River said, smiling at me. "You've met us—but not our past selves."

"Oh, no. No, no, no," I said running my fingers through my hair.

"It's a paradox and an alteration of all future fixed points," Rose said.

Wait. What?

I turned to see Rose standing there before me, grinning excitedly. "Where's my hug?"

Stunned, struggling to breathe from the shock, she came and threw her arms around me. Pulling away, I studied her features, sonicking her, trying to understand.

"She's the Rose before Bad Wolf Bay," River helpfully informed me.

I turned to her, frowning. "But that's impossible."

"No," another (older) Rose said, "it's a paradox."

I stared at the fifty year old Rose with utter shock. "This cannot be happening! This is not good, not good at all," I rambled, beginning to pace again. "It's not simply all of history occurring at the same time, but all timelines—all possibilities of what could have happened—occurring at once. And if this is happening at the exact same time as I'm attempting to seal the cracks in the universe, then that means this new paradoxical interference with a fixed point _thingy_ will—"

I crouched down on my feet, and then sprang back up, pacing again.

"Doctor?" Martha said, sounding a bit worried. I turned to see it was her middle aged counterpart. "What's going to happen?"

Facing her, brow furrowed, I sighed. "What's going to happen is worse than time dying." I swallowed, closing my eyes. "Martha, meddling with one fixed point causes the universe's destruction. Since the Master never died, it also interferes with other fixed points that me, you, and all the rest of us travelers have established. The voidstuff, as Rose calls it, marks us as the definition for fixed points—the only good news we have today, I'm afraid. It means we know every fixed point that has been altered."

"Leave it to you to find the silver lining," River tossed, a dark skinned teenager arriving at her side.

"Nice look," Mel said, nodding appreciatively.

"Before, there were no fixed points beyond your own death," Amy broke in, ignoring the new addition as her face tightened in concentration. "We learned it all backwards, like how you met River. You explored the cracks in the wall, figured out what was going on, and safely manipulated the fixed point." Her middle aged counterpart sidled up next to her and she grimaced at the glimpse into her future, touching her face self-consciously.

"Since none of us established a fixed point after Lake Silencio," Rory picked up, wrapping a comforting arm around Amy's shoulder, "River's interference with it was reversed by touching."

"Right," I said, sighing again, "but now multiple fixed points have been altered. It can't be reversed. I don't know how to reverse it."

"What's going to happen?" Mel asked, biting her lower lip.

I released a breath in a long whoosh. "I'm really not sure," I admitted. "Births, deaths, all unions, all of everything we've been through—has been changed. Every one of you here will begin to pop out of existence one by one—everyone from before the Master became mayor. It's a paradox within countless paradoxes." I shook my head, gesturing to everyone. "The space-time continuum is so mangled that it is literally _accepting_ paradoxes as normal."

"So time isn't going to die?" Jack said.

"When did you get here?" I asked, then shook my head and waved him off. "Never mind. No, time isn't going to die. Time is actually adapting."

"That's a good thing, though, right?" Child Amy asked, smiling up at me.

"Where's my other selves?" Rory griped, then frowned when an eighty year old man with his eyes limped toward them.

Current Amy reached down and took Child Amy's hand. "No!" I shouted, but too late. They both began to glow. I lunged for them, trying to break them apart. "It's a paradox! They can't touch!"

The glowing subsided and an Amy aged somewhere between Child Amy and Current Amy stood there. She looked probably no more than seventeen. Glancing down at herself, then to the middle aged version of herself, she leaned close to Rory and said, "Remind me not to touch that one."

Staring at them, I shook my head. "Like I said, time is adapting to the paradoxes." I sonicked the new Amy and checked the readings. "The problem with that is time unraveling. It is becoming disorganized—confused. There is no sense of time, no structure. Time will continue, but at the price of spontaneous molecular combustion. People can live forever, die at the drop of a hat, invent a cure for a disease and the next day the cure be lost and a plague break out. Planets...entire planets, suns, stars...they can change direction or course whenever they please. At any moment, natural and unnatural disasters could strike the Earth."

"Unnatural...?" River trailed off.

I met her eye steadily. "For example, the Sun could decide to collide with the planet. Unnatural. Total, universal chaos. Eventually, very slowly or very quickly, all life will be eradicated from the universe. A universe of confused time cannot be inhabited."

"And we have no way of determining how much time we have left to sort it," Pre Bad Wolf Bay Rose breathed.


	8. Rescue

Chapter Eight

Rescue

* * *

"But you have a plan, right?" a red head asked.

I cocked my head at her. "Donna?" The one before I wiped her memories, I judged by her lack of spontaneous incineration.

She started coming forward for a hug, but I moved away abruptly, walking back up the sidewalk. "Right. Enough. Let's go."

"A plan?" Rose asked.

"Save you. That's about all I've—oh, wait a moment." Freezing, I peered into her eyes curiously, grinning, but quickly snatched it away shaking my head. "No, no, too dangerous."

"Doctor, I have fought Daleks beside you," she said, grabbing my arm to make me wait. "I'm pretty much accustomed to danger."

I studied her for a moment, glancing behind me at the large group of companion doppelgangers that followed us, and sighed. "Fine. You've been kidnapped by a time lord and my duplicate," I told her, ignoring her surprise. "If you can cause a distraction, it will buy me enough time to rescue Rose—er, you."

"Distraction. I can do that."

I turned to face the others, nodding somberly as I met each of their eyes. "The Master wanted chaos—he wanted to cause a paradox. What he didn't count on was that chaos working against him." I smiled at all of them, "Because he created multiples of the most brilliant minds in the universe. All of you, come with me."

I started running up the sidewalk, all of them hesitating for a moment except Rose, whose hand I grabbed. When they all caught up, Jack jogged up to my side. "Where are we going?" he said, panting slightly.

"10 Downing Street," I shot, grinning again.

"And why are we running?" Rose asked.

"More dramatic!" I laughed, picking up speed.

* * *

When we grew closer to 10 Downing Street, I noticed a market stand for parties. I grabbed a mask, fitting the elastic band roughly over Rose's head. She tilted the masquerade mask up from her face with a grimace. "Disguise?"

"Guessed it. C'mon!"

We cut through an alley, the rest of our group besides Jack moving further up the sidewalk to use a different alley. We started to split up a few blocks back, not wanting to draw attention with the huge crowd. Some would use the front entrance, while others would use the sides. Jack and Rose before the Bay would use the back, climbing through a window.

I planned to walk through the front door, since I looked exactly like the mayor. We learned from a news cast that his press conference began in less than fifteen minutes, granting me the perfect window.

"All right, you guys know what to do," I told them as we came to a crossroads in the alley. I took Rose by the shoulders. "Don't get caught."

"Never," she said, smiling.

Still unsatisfied, I turned to Jack, who winked. I nodded at them and took off down the other alley.

* * *

Getting past the guards was easy enough. Donna Noble and Teenaged Amy should be in the basement right now, shutting off the valves leading to the gas emitters in the conference room—if we were doing this again, I was saving everyone I could.

I went upstairs, to the mayor's quarters, and took out my sonic screwdriver. I stopped myself. No sonicking.

Tentatively, I raised my fist and rapped on the door. After a moment, she answered, only cracking it open a sliver. She licked her lips, opening it the rest of the way and allowing me inside.

I walked in and shut the door behind us, showing her the screwdriver. "I'm the real Doctor, Rose."

She nodded. "I'm not going anywhere. Really."

"Rose, I'm the only one who has a sonic screwdriver. You know that."

"My Doctor has all of the same memories as the other one," she recited numbly. "He could easily make—"

"Rose, forgive me," I begged, reaching out and placing my hands on either side of her face. I closed my eyes, delving deep into her mind. I passed the clusters of gold and blue, seeking the epicenter of her brain, and swallowed. _This is the only way_, I told her. _Do you feel me?_

_Doctor,_ she murmured. She latched on to me unexpectedly, but not in the body—in my mind. I reeled, head spinning.

_Rose, no,_ I warned gently. _You have to let go._

_I can't,_ she whispered, and I heard her breathing grow labored outside our minds. _Doctor, do something. I need something. What is it?_

Anguished, I said, _Me. You want me. It's the danger of entering this far into your mind._

_Doesn't feel dangerous._

_Rose, you have to let go. I don't know how you managed to latch on to my mind, but you have to—_

_I'm the girl who absorbed the vortex,_ she whispered. _And you are my Doctor._

_Rose, I can't_, I sent back, licking my lips outside my mind. _You have to let go._

_Doctor..._ I felt the gold clusters extend tendrils of energy toward the epicenter and gulped.

_We'll be forever joined at the mind, Rose. This about this._

The tendrils paused, surprising me. _You don't want it_, she said simply, the tendrils pulling back.

Shocked at the wave of emotion that invaded me from her mind, I shook my head. _Rose, that's not..._ Grief. So much grief. How could she believe that I didn't want...

I embraced her mind, the blue tendrils extending toward the epicenter and dragging everything that was her into my being.

She gasped. _Doctor._

_If you want this, Rose Tyler, embrace it now_, I instructed huskily, a new emotion overpowering me. I knew she sensed it and I probed her mind, searching for fear.

I found none.

She embraced me fully, her gold tendrils snaking toward the epicenter. They met in a white hot explosion that broke us from each other's minds. We staggered on our feet, meeting each other's eyes.

"Rose?" She blinked, glancing upwards.

"I hear an echo," she whispered. _I hear an echo._

_You'll learn how to block it_, I told her, smiling when she blinked again.

"Rose Tyler," my voice said from behind us. I turned and saw my duplicate standing there with Rose in tow, her masquerade mask in hand.

The Master came from a door across the room.

"So difficult to find a bathroom in this place," I said, backing away with Rose's hand in mine.

"I know, right?" Jack said, wrapping an arm around the duplicate's shoulders and surprising him.

Martha and Teenaged Amy stood behind the Master, aiming a screwdriver at his back. "We've been here before, Master. Or did you forget?" Martha tossed, pressing the button.

The Master turned on her, but immediately began writing at warp speed.

I stepped forward. "Stop!"

Martha smirked at me. "It won't kill him, remember?"

She let off the button and the Master's clothes fell in a heap on the floor.

A severely aged version of him crawled out from beneath it.


	9. Reflection

This will end on Chapter Ten. I wrote this for fun, to clear my head before the revision of my novel. Check it out and like the page on Facebook, forward slash DeathVows

* * *

Chapter Nine

Reflection

* * *

The Master crawled out from the clothes, turning to face me with furious eyes.

Current Amy reached down to take Child Amy's hand, beginning to glow. We stood on the sidewalk where we all met before, and Teenaged Amy stood in the wake of the glow. She leaned close to Rory and said, "Remind me not to touch that one," and pointed to her middle aged counterpart.

I sighed.

"Any plans, Doctor?" Donna Noble asked, sidling up to the group.

I shook my head at her. "My last plan worked especially well," I murmured, "but time is too distorted for a plan to be of any effect."

"What?" Rose said, frowning at me.

"Spontaneous molecular combustion," I repeated, rubbing my forehead. I had no idea what to do.

_Doctor?_

"No way," I breathed, staring into space. _Rose?_

"Doctor?" I raised a finger to River, shushing her.

_Doctor, what happened? Everyone just vanished._

_It's okay. Well, it's not okay, but—_

_You're rambling_, she reminded, a smile in her voice.

_Right_, I said. _Rose, time is confused. It's as if we never came to Downing Street._

_But I remember—and so does the Master._

_That's not good,_ I grumbled. _The only ones who remember are the Time Lords and the girl who absorbed the Time Vortex, then._

_No,_ she corrected, _the girl who is connected to a Time Lord's mind._

I began to pace, but stopped when I faced a wall, pressing my forehead against it and closing my eyes. _The traditional rescue isn't going to work._

_We have to find a way to seal the paradoxes at its source, _she told me.

_There's too many sources, and at the same time, there's no source at all._

_You're only thinking like that because you're stressed out. Focus, Doctor. For me._

_I can't Rose. The space-time continuum is too damaged._

_Think, Doctor. What caused all of this?_

_The Master. My duplicate,_ I said impatiently. _That doesn't help at all._

_It does,_ she said. _I can see your thoughts more clearly than you right now._

I perked up as she showed me my own mind, through her eyes. I pushed away from the wall, turning a grin on the companion doppelgangers. "We have to get to the TARDIS. Martha, don't try to use that screwdriver trick on the Master this time—he'll be ready for it. Let's go!"

Again, I grabbed Rose before the Bay's hand and started running up the sidewalk. Again, Jack jogged up alongside me.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"10 Downing Street."

"And why are we—?"

"Oh, let's not repeat this for a third time," I prayed, laughing.

The sky turned dark and I saw planets in the sky.

"What is that?" Rose asked, staring up at the sky and stumbling slightly.

_This is the timeline where the Earth was stolen,_ Rose said, seeing through my eyes.

_This is getting out of hand._

A familiar sound slowed us all to a standstill. The TARDIS faded into existence. The doors opened but, instead of my duplicate, a stone statue stood in the doorway.

"Wonderful," I grunted.

"Doctor," Rory began nervously, "why is there a weeping angel in the TARDIS?"

"Keep your eyes on it," I instructed, releasing Rose's hand. I moved toward it, ducking down and looking into the control room. Weeping angels stood all around, every one of them holding their heads in their hands.

I moved back, running my fingers through my hair, and watched River approach the angel.

"Doctor, if I touch it..."

"River," I warned, grabbing her wrist. She smiled at me, then glanced over her shoulder. I turned to see River standing beside Mel.

"I'm the River that will be," she told me. The River after you go up in the TARDIS and reboot the universe." I opened my mouth and she shook her head very slowly. "Spoilers."

She reached out and grasped the statues hand, concentrating. "I did this once before and felt what the angel felt. This time, the angel seems..." She furrowed her eyebrow.

"River? It seems like what?"

She shook her head, turning to me with uncertainty in her eyes. "I can't be sure, but it seems like they're on your side."

_Doctor?_ Rose's voice called loudly in my mind. I pressed two fingers to my forehead, wincing.

_Inside voice,_ I whined.

_Sorry,_ she said, softer. _But something's happened. Your duplicate was attacked._

_Attacked? Attacked how?_ I demanded, feeling a surge of excitement.

_The angels. He was talking to the Master while aboard the TARDIS and the transmission cut out. We haven't heard anything from him since._

A muffled shout from within the TARDIS drew my attention and I turned to River. "Stay here. All of you," I said, surveying the small crowd behind me.

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterm—!" Daleks began to descend from the sky.

"Right, then, change of plans. Everyone into the angel-infested TARDIS."

We all piled in, carefully, and I started toward the control panel when I heard the sound again.

"Doctor?" Jack said, sounding confused. "You might wanna take a look at this."

I glanced up and saw that all the angels formed a disorganized but distinct line into a corridor of the TARDIS. "Well, this is new," I said, straightening my bowtie.

"What are they doing?" Martha asked, scanning the long line uncomprehendingly.

"They're a trail of breadcrumbs," I said, clearing the steps down from the panel with eagerness. "A weeping angel cannot feast on confused time—they're starving."

"So, you're saying that they can't hurt us?" Rose said, frowning at me.

I raised my eyebrows at her, growing serious. "Oh, yes. They can still hurt us." I patted one on the shoulder as I passed it. "But they won't. They need us to fix the spacetime continuum to preserve their food source."

I walked down the corridor, following the trail of angels, and noticed the entire crew following close behind. Facing forward, I allowed myself a grin. An entire group of companions. A gang, of sorts. I never had a gang before.

_Doctor? Doctor, the Master is moving me. He found the TARDIS._

I laughed out loud, jumping up and down once. Jack, just behind me, lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "The Master is here. Quickly, this way." I started running down the corridor. "Angels, leave the control room!" I called, then, as an afterthought, "Please!"

_When you get here, Rose, move into the first corridor on your left and hide behind the statues, do you understand?_

_No, but okay,_ she said. I sensed her fear. It prickled over every inch of my body.

I sent her a wave of warmth and comfort, directly from my hearts. _It's going to be all right. I've got you._

We arrived at the end of the angel trail to find...

"John Smith," I said, chuckling at the stone hand that covered his mouth. He wriggled, holding a mirror in one hand to stare at the angel that held him. He glanced up at me, but then back to the mirror.

The corridor was narrow enough that any angels who tried to approach from the front would be forced to face the angel that held John. That explained why he remained alive.

"I really want to check my reflection," I told him dangerously. He scowled at me, eyes returning to the mirror again.


	10. When Angels Die

Chapter Ten

When Angels Die

* * *

I heard the TARDIS door open down the corridor. _We're in._

Closing my eyes, and reopening them, I watched the Master through her eyes. He released her, shutting the door, and she ran toward the left corridor. She turned the corner and peeked around it, but the Master just shook his head and grinned at her.

She turned and saw the angel, gasping.

_Get behind it,_ I instructed. She obeyed. _Rose, I need you to do something for me._

_I can read your thoughts, Doctor. I won't let you do this._

_There's little choice left._

_Doctor, it's not just to save yourself from the guilt—it's to save the universe and all of space and time. You cannot kill the Master. Not here. Not now. Not ever._

_But I can kill this scrap of myself that has harmed you, can't I? He has no fixed points beyond this._

_Doctor. Don't,_ she warned.

_Rose, don't watch any of this._ I closed my eyes and reopened them again, ignoring her barrage of unceasing arguments. _TARDIS, the lights._

The lights went out in the ship and I felt the breeze caress my hair as swift unseen creatures moved around us. My duplicate screamed, but then panted in relief. "What?"

"TARDIS, LIGHTS!" I commanded, the lights immediately returning.

The angels pinned my duplicate against the wall and blood streamed down his neck. I moved closer to him, examining the wound. "Huh..."

"What's got you so fascinated, Doctor?" my duplicate sneered.

I smiled amiably at him. "You've been bitten by an angel," I informed him.

"No," he murmured, eyes widening. He began to struggle. "No! I cahhhn—!" He coughed and I thanked the universe that minor muscles, such as vocal chords, were the first to go in the process.

"What's going to happen?" Rose asked.

I smiled at her, then turned back to my duplicate. "He's going to become a weeping angel." As we watched, his fingers stiffened and became stone. I grimaced, despite myself. "You'll spend the rest of your existence with a single purpose—to feed. This is a great act of gratitude, angels," I told them, placing a hand on one statue whose mouth was smeared with blood. "To take this burden from me, and give him a fate to fit his crimes. I could never think of such a fairness in my anger."

Sighing heavily, I turned with a strained smile at my group of companions. "Let's not waste their thank you, then. Let's sort this spacetime mess."

I started walking past Rose down the corridor when she moved in the opposite direction, toward John. She grabbed a hank of his hair and slammed his face into the wall as hard as she could. She repeated the action. Several times.

"Rose!" I grabbed her and pulled her off of him. I saw tears streaming down her cheeks. I noticed a dark bruise on the side of her neck.

It was my Rose. The Rose after Bad Wolf, the one left behind with John in that parallel universe...

I wrapped her in my arms, holding her tight. _It's okay now_, I sent, kissing the top of her head. _He can never hurt you again._

"The four of you," I said over her head to the four angels that pinned the still transitioning John to the wall. "Please hold your places there. I want to send him somewhere that he will not be able to escape."

I turned with Rose held tightly against my side, squeezing past the others in the densely populated corridor.

"Is it just me, or are there less angels in here than before the lights went out?" Jack asked, staring at the covered faces of the statues we passed.

"Clever as always," I acknowledged, entering the control room.

"Oh," Jack said, crossing his arms with an appreciative smirk.

At the control panel, an angel gripped the Master tightly in its arms, a hologram of myself standing outside a glass cylindrical device that contained the two of them. Smoke still teemed behind the glass, knocking out the Time Lord.

"The intruder," he told me, flickering slightly as he grinned, "has been contained. Nice to see me making friends, Doctor."

I grinned back, moving to the control panel. "Angels are watching over us today, boys and girls," I laughed, twisting knobs here and there.

"Couldn't resist the bad joke, could you?" my hologram chided.

I stared at him, narrowing my eyes. "Don't you have other TARDIS things to do?"

He flickered out of existence with a light chuckle.

I stopped turning knobs, deflating.

_Doctor?_ Rose rested her hand atop mine. "What's wrong?" she asked aloud.

"Time is wrong," I muttered, running my tongue against the backsides of my teeth. "I don't know how we're going to maneuver the TARDIS when literally every road is closed."

The lights flickered and River squealed. We turned to her to see an angel grasping her shoulders. She breathed deeply, gulping, but calmed herself. "No need to be so pushy," she grumbled ill-temperedly. "They say that some of them are willing to use their stored sources to create an opening for the TARDIS."

I shook my head, stepping away from the controls. "No, there has to be another way. I'm not having them sacrifice themselves for—"

"—the entire universe?" Amy said softly, coming forward.

River reached up and touched the angels hand, a sad look in her eyes. "They're just as stubborn as you, Doctor." She sent me an apologetic look. "They're sending the energy directly to the core of the TARDIS right now. Don't let it go to waste."

The lights flickered again and the angels formed a series of circles around the control panel, looking up at the bright blue cylinder and joining hands. "Please," I begged them, visiting several statues individually. "We can find another way! JUST WAIT!"

"They're saying thank you," River said, resting her hand on two of the statues shoulders.

Orbs of light shot from each of the statues, colliding with the column of blue light and starting the engines. With a cry of outrage, I lurched for the control panel and began inputting coordinates, pulling the lever and initiating the engines.

The TARDIS rumbled and began to toss in time and space, the statues crumbling to dust as we took off.

_It's not your fault,_ Rose murmured, gripping the bar beside me as the vessel spun.

_Everyone willingly sacrifices themselves around me._

_Because they believe in you,_ Rose returned forcefully, releasing one hand to grip over mine.

I met her eye. _That belief gets people killed._

_That's not why you're upset,_ she countered. _You aren't upset that people believe in you. You're upset because you think they _don't_ believe in you._

I frowned at her. _What?_

_When they sacrifice themselves to help you,_ she said gently, _you take it as a failure on your part. You let them down. They didn't have faith in you that you could fix everything._

_Rose..._

_Doctor,_ she whispered, meeting my eye steadily. _You don't have to fix everything on your own. Nobody _wants_ you to fix it all on your own._

_I am a Time Lord,_ I said, shaking my head. The TARDIS threw itself to the side, threatening to dislodge us, but we held on.

_And we're the little people,_ she said softly.

_You are more important than that! You are _all_ more important than—_

_Exactly,_ she whispered, earning a surprised look from me. _We're all important. We're all responsible. You'd gladly sacrifice yourself for any of us, for the entire universe. We're no different. You think it doesn't kill us when you go off trying to be a martyr?_

_Rose, it is my responsibility alone to protect the—_

_But it's not. It's not anymore, Doctor._ The TARDIS lurched again and she used the momentum to hook an arm around my waist, holding me close. She stared deeply into my eyes. _We all have faith in you. The angels even have faith in you. What they did was to help their species survive, and to protect time. Just as you protect time. It wasn't a slap in the face of your capabilities, so stop thinking that way._

The TARDIS landed, sending us sprawling on the ground. Rose landed atop me, groaning. "Where are we?"

"End of the universe," I whispered, dragging Rose up to face me. I searched her eyes and she grinned, leaning in close and pecking me on the lips shyly.

I accepted the light show of affection, connected deeply enough with her mind to know this was all there could be for now. End of time and space or no, Rose still had her own internal battles to overcome.

"Guys?" Jack cut in awkwardly.

We sat up, each of us smoothing back our hair. "Right, hit the green button there."

The cylinder that contained the master and angel raised up, lights flickering, and left the master laying crumpled on the ground.

"The red button next to it," I prompted, standing upright.

The Master stirred just as the cylinder lowered completely over him. He raised to his feet, pounding on the glass.

I smirked, wiggling my fingers at him in farewell, and smashed my hand down on a yellow button. The Master was sucked upward in the vacuum, deposited outside in his rightful place and time. I inputted the coordinates for Earth and crossed my fingers.

"That's it?" Jack asked, studying my profile.

"Yep. That's it."

"But what about the multiple paradoxes and—"

"He was too stressed out to think properly," Rose informed him sheepishly, rubbing my shoulder.

"I wasn't stressed," I said cheekily. "I was just thinking more than normal." I pulled the lever before she made any cocky remarks.

* * *

There should be one more chapter, after all. If you want to see a continuation of this story dealing with Rose's road to recovery with the Doctor, tell me in the reviews!


	11. Epilogue: Safe

Epilogue

Safe

* * *

As the TARDIS hovered in space, a bright white light began to grow in the control room. Rose and I watched all of the companion doppelgangers smiling at us, the light emitting from them. They waved and blinked out of the room.

"Back to their respective timelines," I told Rose. "It worked."

She nodded, but refused to meet my eye. Her mind whirred uncomfortably and I frowned at the chaos inside.

"Rose?"

"Mm?" She crossed the room to the chair and sat down, yawning and still not looking at me. Maddened by the lack of communication, I crossed the room and knelt before her, peering up into her face. She closed her eyes and smiled before reopening them.

"You're nervous," I said, reciting the knowledge I gleaned from her mind. "You feel awkward being alone with me so suddenly."

She gulped, more thoughts involuntarily spinning in her head.

_Rose, you can read my mind, too. Remember that._ She met my eye thoughtfully. _Is my mind at all occupied with those expectations?_ I felt her probing, relaxing with each vague idea she glimpsed. _Nothing needs to change between us—well, aside from our new telepathy._

I grinned at her and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "I'm being silly again, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," I conceded ruthlessly, laughing.

Then, I saw it. I grabbed Rose's arm, my eyes staying on the statue. "Doctor?"

"Move away, Rose."

She turned and saw the statue, swallowing. "The face..."

"He won't hurt you. I'm going to fix this, Rose," I told her. "Just keep watching him."

I moved to the control panel, glancing up occasionally to ensure that the statue never moved. I input the coordinates and returned to Rose's side.

"I've got it, it's all right," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her and backing toward the control panel again. "Hold on tight." I placed my hand over the control just before the lights flickered.

Angels surrounded us, their backs turned to us and blocking John's statue from reaching us. "They're protecting us," Rose whispered, her voice filled with awe.

"Time has been restored," I murmured. "They could easily turn on us and use us for a food source now, but instead they remained honor bound."

"Pull the lever, Doctor. Let's deposit them somewhere safe."

I obeyed.

* * *

We released the angels in an open desert where they could roam freely without being watched for awhile. Wherever they wound up was for fate to decide, as much as I disliked the idea of them claiming any victims in the future. The fact remained that their actions, as disadvantageous as it was to human beings, was necessary to their survival.

I never held it against a species for that; everyone wanted to live.

When I opened the TARDIS door, they all vanished when we turned away—but John and the angel with blood smeared on its mouth stood just outside the door, staring directly into each others eyes.

_Another being who sacrificed itself,_ I murmured.

_You don't have the same sadness accompanying that idea,_ Rose acknowledged softly.

I took her hand in mine. _We're all doing our part to protect each other, as a wise woman once said._

"Well, now you're just buttering me up," she laughed, smiling up at me.

The perception filter on my wrist shorted out, singing my arm hair, and I threw it off of me. "Owww," I protested, glaring at it in reproach. It burst into flame in response.

I inclined my head at Rose, returning her smile, and we entered the TARDIS to seek out new adventures together.

* * *

If you'd like a continuation, tell me in the reviews. Otherwise, I have another fanfic idea already brewing for my next bored day.


	12. Prologue: Forget

Here's the sequel! Also, if you like my writing here, please go check out my ORIGINAL story on FictionPress! It's called Death Vows-and I'd love to get some reviews from you guys!

fictionpress DOT com/ s/3146181/1/Death-Vows (without spaces.)

* * *

Prologue

Forget

* * *

Rose slept soundlessly in her room in the TARDIS. I knew because I watched her on the monitor. Yes, I realize that sounds rather like a stalker, but I only switch it on at times like this.

She thrashed against the covers, but thankfully she stopped screaming since I played the music. I went to her the first time she had a nightmare, but she yelled and cried and just generally showed me how much embarrassment I caused her.

She didn't say that, but that's what I did.

I turned the music up just a little more, a recording of the song the Ood soothed me with before I regenerated. I had wanted to keep that life—crashed the TARDIS in my fit—but now I felt gratitude. Because otherwise, Rose would be startled every morning; I would be a constant reminder.

She relaxed on the sheets, calmed by the music, and I plopped down on my chair with my head in my hands. I rubbed my eyes, pushing the hair back from my forehead. I tried everything. I took her to every planet I could think of that held beauty and peace and harmony among its people. When that didn't help her sleep any better, I took her to the Pas'i constellation and we toured the Festival of Fire. She danced with Crestads and attended concerts and even learned to breathe fire at one point (with Crestad assistance, of course)-but even the over-stimulation never tired out her nightmares. Now, I tried leaving her alone.

It wasn't going well.

I could make her forget, as I made Donna forget. I knew that. I wanted to do that. But she never remembered her nightmares in her waking life, and I strove to keep her from anything that might remind her of John. The last thing I wanted was to bring him up.

A scream tore through the TARDIS. On the monitor, Rose crouched on the edge of her bed and stared around the dark bedroom with eyes so wide, I could see the whites even in the dim lighting. She scooted back up on the bed, head bowed as though expecting a blow, and grabbed her pillow to clutch against herself.

She flinched, cowering away as though something startled her to her left.

I hit a button on the monitor and the lights came on in her room. She blinked, surprised, and gazed up at the ceiling in confusion. She turned back to look at the place on the bed to her left, saw that nobody sat there, and let out a snort of laughter.

She shook her head and set her pillow back at the top of the bed, her head son following it. As she got comfortable, I heard her mumble, "I was really about to lose my mind right there..."

She yawned, drew her blanket up to her chin, and closed her eyes. "Thanks, TARDIS."

I shut off the light. "You're welcome, Rose."

I needed to fix this.


End file.
